The Spectator and the Muses

Acquainted #6 – In the Dark

One girl was afraid of the dark. More accurately, she was terrified by darkness, to the point where she absolutely hated night. She didn’t know what a starred sky looked like. She tried her best not to go out after six. If she had to, she then moved from spotlight to spotlight, always keeping herself illuminated. Even in her car, she kept the light on while driving. Darkness ought not to touch her.

“Darkness can make me vanish”. She said this with pure seriousness.

Nobody expected to see her at parties, or at major evening events. People joked and gossiped about her, since it was fun and harmless. Some betted that she had a curse, like Cinderella, others that she was plain crazy and stupid.The innocent jokes soon became a real concern, one that caused heated debates among everyone. So it was decided that she would tricked into staying out late, then forced into shadows — just to know the truth about her. And for fun.

This was done a Monday. People she knew distracted her until the sun had gone on duty to China. When she noticed, standing by the exit door of the building they were in, she was frozen in fright. She had to walk half a block to her car, in dim light. At least it was only a walk through a parking lot, and there was dim light.

She sighed and started to walk, with everybody eagerly seeing her. They waited for her to be halfway through, and then turned the lights off to cover her in darkness. At last they would find out who was right about her, and see her true reaction to darkness.